Volcano begins erupting in southwestern Iceland after a nearby town and spa are evacuated

LONDON (AP) - A volcano began erupting in southwestern Iceland on Tuesday, just hours after authorities evacuated a nearby community and a geothermal spa, one of Iceland's biggest tourist attractions.

Flames and smoke shot through the air as the volcanic fissure opened near the town of Grindavik, where some 40 homes have been evacuated, national broadcaster RUV reported. The community, located on the Reykjanes Peninsula, was largely evacuated a year ago when the volcano came to life after lying dormant for 800 years.

Webcams showed molten rock spewing out toward the community. Sirens sounded in Grindavik while the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa was also evacuated.

"The total length of the eruptive fissure is now about 1,200 meters (3,937 feet) and continues to extend southward,” Iceland’s Met Office said in a statement, adding that it had received a report that a hot water pipeline had broken in the northern part of Grindavík.

“This confirms that significant fault movements have occurred within the town,” the Met Office said.

The magma flow began at about 6:30 a.m. local time (0630 GMT) accompanied by an intense earthquake swarm similar to previous eruptions, the Icelandic Met Office said.

Iceland sits above a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic. The most disruptive incident in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere and disrupted trans-Atlantic air travel for months.